The present invention relates to a connector adjacent intermediate frames used in insulated glass panels and more particularly to a corner connector which can be used to attach the adjacent intermediate frames when they are still in coplanar relation along a longitudinal center line and allows them to be moved into a rectangular shape. The connector fixes adjacent intermediate frame members to one another and is movable into a locked right angle position.
In the past there have been corner connectors utilized for connecting adjacent intermediate frames for insulated glass panels. However, these were rigid preformed connectors in a right angle configuration and required that the frame members be inserted about the connectors from a right angle position relative to one another. Then frame member connection was made in a non-movable configuration.
An example of the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,560 in which an intermediate frame for insulated glass panels is illustrated. This reference teaches the use of metallic right-angled members, whose arms are introduced into the ends of the tubes and maintain the latter in position at ninety degrees to one another. They are secured to the ladder by means of a soldering operation which is used and carried out by successively immersing each of the corners in a molten tin solder bath so as to fill the entire space between the two tubes, as also the space between the inner walls of the tubes and the right angled member. This soldering method is quite expensive and time consuming. The present invention is a new and improved device over U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,866,380 and 4,109,432. The present invention provides a more complex flexible corner connector which simply snaps into place maintaining the adjacent intermediate frame members in a right angle configuration that can be initially inserted into the intermediate frames lying in a straight line.